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Archived News:
Codemasters announces TOCA Race Driver 2006 on GameSpot announces plans to
continue the racing simulation series. Accompanying the announcement is their
TOCA Race Driver 2006 Q&A with Codemasters studio
head Gavin Raeburn. Here's a bit:
TOCA Race Driver 2006 will continue the
story-driven precedent established by the previous titles. In this game, we
are focusing a lot more on both the aspirational and technical elements of
motorsport. To this end, there will be a lot more information divulged in
the scenes pertaining to both the cars the player will drive and how to get
the best out of them on the track. Many of the scenes are dedicated to
showcasing the various cars and motorsports available in the game.
With over 35 disciplines to choose from, the motorsport world is your
oyster.In parallel to these scenes, the narrative arc builds on the glamour
and all of its trimmings that is associated with high-end motorsport and the
player's increasingly high-profile career. We've also maintained the most
successful aspects of the previous story such as strong characterization,
dry humor, and even a rather memorable wry Scotsman. Technically, we are
also raising the bar to give the scenes an extra lick of gloss and realism.
Consequently, every scene of the new story will have something of value for
every type of player.
A new
Rising Kingdoms Product Page is online (thanks Frans),
offering the
first
16 screenshots from Haemimont Games' just-announced fantasy-themed real-time
strategy game.
The Videos Page
on the Silent Hunter III
Website now features a new torpedo tutorial movie showing how to go on the
offensive in the World War II submarine combat sequel. Thanks Frans.
Also, the movie posted last week on the
Battlestations: Midway Website last week in Flash format can now
be downloaded (direct
link). Finally, there's also a new Still Life movie from Microïds' likewise
imminent adventure game, though all the areas in the movie can also be found in
the game's playable demo. The download is available on
3D Gamers.
- The Punisher
Punisher mastermind squeals on Gamesradar is a Q&A with James Tsai,
producer on Volition's game based on The Punisher, the comic book anti-hero:
"Bringing Garth Ennis and Jimmy Palmiotti (co-creator of comics such as Ash,
Painkiller Jane, 21 Down and Spygirls) was a priority of ours from the
beginning of development. A lot of the team members at Volition were big
fans of their work on the Punisher comic series and we knew having them
aboard would make the game better and also show everyone that we were
committed to creating the most authentic experience possible."
- ParaWorld
The
ParaWorld Q&A on
Gameguru Mania talks with Reinhard Döpfer, producer on ParaWorld,
SUNFLOWERS' upcoming RTS game: "The units are in principle divided into purely
human units (e.g. spearmen or archers), animal units (almost all of whom are
used by humans as beasts of burden or similar) and mechanical units. To list
them all separately would a) go beyond the scope of this interview and b) give
too much away. They all benefit from a common pool of experience and can
therefore proceed to new levels if they have reached the corresponding era. The
heroes have special skills and capabilities. For instance they can unlock
special units or achieve a bonus for their tribe. In addition, we must mention
the powerful artefacts [sic] that can be found throughout the levels."
- Cossacks II
The
Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars Q&A on Armchair General talks with CDV's
Mario Kroll about their RTS sequel: "In the game, formations hold an army
together. For purpose of this discussion, there are three basic formations
in the game. One is best for offensive action, spreading units across a
greater distance and allowing for the most effective concentrated fire. The
next is ideal for movement across longer distances, keeping units from
exhausting too soon, but making them less able to respond to a surprise
attack. The last is meant to provide a solid defense against enemy attacks,
but stripping them of the ability to quickly mobilize and move as a
tradeoff. In summary, formations provide defensive and offensive bonuses,
balanced with tradeoffs in movement speed and soldier fatigue."
- Mission Barbarossa
The
Mission Barbarossa Q&A on Strategy Informer chats with CDV producer Nico
Zettler about their World War II RTS add-on: "The player will commence the
Mission Barbarossa campaign with a few core units. These will gain
experience as the player progresses through the various missions and
chapters. Also the player will be promoted depending on their performance.
Each promotion will bring more core units in the form of additional tanks
and artillery, up to 16 tanks and 6 artillery units, which is much more than
the original Blitzkrieg offers."
- 1944: Battle of the Bulge
The
1944 Battle of the Bulge Q&A on FileFront talks with
David Hockley, producer on Monte Cristo's upcoming
World War II strategy game: "The engine we use is fairly open and allows us
to modify a great number of things. People who have played the previous
games using this engine will find that things are familiar but that there
are a many subtle differences that greatly enhance the gameplay, such as the
way artillery is used, the way the level design has been implemented and so
on."
Got Game Entertainment and Merscom announce that Heretic Kingdoms: The
Inquisition is gold, and that this North American edition of the game already
available in Europe under the title Kult: Heretic Kingdoms is due in stores the
first week in April:
Got Game Entertainment and Merscom Announce
"Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition" Goes Gold;
Combat-oriented and story-driven isometric RPG set for April 2005 release
Weston, CT - March 16, 2005 - Got Game Entertainment LLC and co-publisher
Merscom LLC today announced that "Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition" for the
PC has gone gold. The North American gold master of this combat-oriented and
story-driven RPG includes several improvements over its European release,
including a new map feature, faster load time, and improved memory and
inventory management. Retailing for $29.99 (USD) and rated "M" for Mature by
the ESRB for Blood and Violence, "Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition" was
developed by 3D People in association with Chris Bateman and his
International Hobo team, and is scheduled to arrive on store shelves April
7, 2005.
"Heretic Kingdoms: The Inquisition" casts you as the Inquisitor, assigned to
stamp out the last remnants of religion. In a world where God is dead and
religion heresy, you must decide your own morality. With a story-driven
narrative in a morally-reactive world, your choices have consequences,
taking the meaning of good and evil to a new level, and taking you to one of
six different endings. The dynamic world changes as allies, enemies, and
story all adapt to your actions.
Set in isometric view for ease of exploration, "Heretic Kingdoms: The
Inquisition" features approximately 50 beautifully rendered locations and
more than 30 monsters, each with its own habitat. Game mechanics for
healing, combat, and treasure create fluid, engaging gameplay. Over 100
attunements let you customize your character skills and abilities, or
develop your own character classes, to prepare for over 50 quests with
multiple outcomes.
For more information, visit
www.HereticKingdoms.com.
Black Bean and Haemimont Games announce Rising Kingdoms, a
fantasy-themed real-time strategy game due for release around the end of this May:
Varese, 16th March, 2005. Black Bean is proud to
announce another key publishing deal with Haemimont Games for the incoming
Rising Kingdoms for PC. Rising Kingdoms is a Real-Time Strategy set in a
fantasy world, which focuses on empire development and dynamic tactical
battles. This impressive title stays true to Haemimont's long tradition of
RTS and RPG type games that started with Tzar: the Burden of the Crown and
Celtic Kings series – Celtic Kings: Rage of War and Nemesis of the Roman
Empire a.k.a.Imperivm II.
Set in the beautiful fantasy world of Equiada, home to magical creatures,
mighty leaders, and powerful wizards, Rising Kingdoms, offers players the
unique combination of both strategy and adventure modes.
In strategy mode the player is able to select 3 major races – treacherous
Humans, vicious Foresters and merciless Darklings, and in addition to these
three primary races, the player is able to capture, enslave and develop five
independent nations – Shades, Nomads, Dragons, Trolls, and Elves. Combined
with the player's main race they provide a valuable asset when clashing with
their opponents.
In adventure mode the player controls a group of heroes and a small squad
of troops uncovering dark secrets and surprising twists as the adventure
unfolds. The story spans over several generations portraying powerful
ancient artifacts, the rise and fall of mighty leaders and glorious
kingdoms, and the birth of new mystic creatures and races.
"As with our previous titles, our continuing search for publishing
quality games with strong and deep gameplay elements led us to work with
Haemimont Games on Rising Kingdoms, making us very proud to add this title
to our portfolio." said Marco Minoli, head of Marketing at Black Bean.
"We're impressed by the energy and effort that Black Bean put behind
their releases and look forward to a prolific relationship with them. Our
combined forces are focused on bringing a polished and fun title right to
the hands of the player" added Kiril Iliev, PR Manager of Haemimont Games
Rising Kingdoms will be available on PC in, English, French, German,
Italian and Spanish towards May 2005.
Atari
reveals Enemy In Sight (thanks Frans)
has first details on Enemy in Sight, an upcoming action game that should be
formally announced today:
In development at Illusion Softworks, the
critically acclaimed studio behind titles like Mafia and the Hidden &
Dangerous series, Enemy In Sight - a working title at present - is a
war-based first-person shooter, depicting a near-future conflict between the
US and Russia.
While bearing similarities to Ubisoft smash hit Ghost Recon 2, the game
features a heavy focus on vehicular combat, with over 50 modes of transport
included.
The Tactica: Online Website
is online (thanks Frans), dedicated to
the MMO turn-based strategy game in the woks at Imaginary Numbers, offering
screenshots, information, and the first developer's diary from the project.
Also, a new
Combat
Task Force 121 Product Page is online as another home base to the
just-announced first-person shooter.
- Unreal Tournament 2004
BeyondUnreal's Unreal Tournament 2004 Anniversary Q&A talks with Epic's
Steve Polge on the one-year anniversary of the release of Unreal Tournament
2004: "We're really happy with how the big changes to UT2004 - Onslaught,
Assault, vehicles, and the improved single player ladder - worked out.
Assault and Onslaught each have a gameplay issue I would really like to have
addressed. With Assault, it's the problem that in many maps, the game play
tends to get bogged down in spam fests around certain chokepoints. We spent
a lot of time trying to improve this issue, but it is difficult to prevent
this and keep assault from becoming too complicated for casual players. With
Onslaught, the problem is that once one team has a significant advantage,
it's often difficult for the other team to mount a comeback. This is
particularly the case on node layouts with only a single node connection to
the powercore (which is a good layout for small player counts, but not for
larger player counts). We tried to address this by providing multiple node
layouts, but unfortunately people tend to play with the default layout.
We're working on some new game play mechanics to address this issue for the
next Unreal Tournament."
- Elite Warriors: Vietnam
Computer Games
Magazine's Elite Warriors: Vietnam Q&A is a conversation with U.S. Army
Major John Plaster (ret.) about his role as adviser on nFusion's new
military shooter: " It was pure serendipity. An old SOG friend and Delta
Force officer, John Mullins, had assisted the design of the video game,
"Soldier of Fortune." He thought that with my knowledge of SOG tactics and
techniques, I could similarly assist a SOG video game. His agent, Susan
Notarides, talked to Destineer Studios where a producer, Steve Ellis,
already had read my books and thought they'd make a superb bedrock for a
cutting edge video game. As well, he realized that this would be the first
game ever developed directly from non-fiction, serious works of history,
involving a real unit and real missions. From the time we first spoke, Steve
and I became a team dedicated to making this game as real and accurate as
possible. I even took Steve to a range where he fired a real CAR-15 and an
AK to get him some hands-on experience."
- Stronghold 2
The Stronghold 2 Q&A
on Computer Games Magazine chats with Simon Bradbury of Firefly Studios
about their castle-storming strategy sequel: "There’s lots and lots of new
stuff in the sim side of the game. Rats, falconry, crime and punishment and
steaming piles of ‘gong’ at spice to the lives of the peasants. But its in
the depicting the life of the lord that we have really added to the sim
side. Here we have added a new resource ‘Honor’, to gain this precious
commodity and keep the lord and lady in the manner they expect, many new
chains need to be managed. A few examples of these are sheep farming,
weaving, royal foods and candle making. Overall about 50% more economic
buildings have been added top the game."
- A Tale in the Desert
A Tale in the
Desert II, 5 Months Later on GamersInfo talks with Andrew Tepper about A
Tale in the Desert: A Second Telling now that it's underway: "Yes, it's more
casual player friendly, but I still see a disconnect between the casual and
hardcore players. In Tale 1, looking at the exit poll (when people leave the
game a poll comes up and asks them the main reason) it was 9 "too
overwhelming" to every one person who said "not enough to do." So, overall,
people were overwhelmed by Tale 1. In Tale 2, it is 4 to 3 (four people
saying it is too hard, three saying there isn't wasn't enough to do). In
Tale 1 I released a whole slew of content early on. I'm actually thinking
that in Tale 3 I might go back to more of the Tale 1 style where people get
a bit overwhelmed at first. But, it's a difficult balance to find because
some people are driven at way by being at one extreme and others are driven
away at the other. So, is it more casual friendly? The numbers say yes, the
game has shifted (compared to Tale 1) toward being more casual friendly."
I'm settling back into my office after putting things back together up
here following the departure of the painters. The neat (literally) thing about
this is having gone from the desk equivalent of a heavy-duty pick-up truck to
more of a sports car situation. The old desk was one of those wire frame dealies
designed for servers, chosen to support the pair of 21" CRTs that went with my
work and game machines. Since those eventually became an LCD monitor and a KVM
switch to alternate between computers, replacing the huge desk with a small
workstation carol became practical, and I now have a lot more elbow room. Of
course, recalling how cluttered this place was before the work on the ceiling
makes this seem like I've just been given more rope with which to hang myself,
so I'll have to be smarter about using the extra space rather than abusing it.
Yakety Yak!
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